Tennis: Hilton's reward for hard work

John Roberts
Saturday 21 November 1998 00:02 GMT
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MARK HILTON, a 5ft 7in teenager ranked No 1158 in the world, has breathed life into the National Championships this week. Win or lose his duel of groundstrokes against the experienced Danny Sapsford in the men's singles semi-finals today, the spirited 17-year-old from Mickle Trafford, near Chester, has gained a host of admirers.

Hilton has been inspired by the success of a fellow left-hander, Marcelo Rios, the Chilean world No 2. "He's not the biggest, either" commented Hilton who has been full value for his entry on a wild card. In the quarter- finals yesterday he accounted for the No 4 seed, Martin Lee, a 20-year- old left-hander from Sussex who was once ranked the world's No 1 junior, 6-2, 6-1.

"Whatever else happens," the 29-year-old Sapsford said, "I'm not going to underestimate him." Sapsford, ranked No 526, recently revived his flagging career by playing doubles. He opened the week by eliminating the top seed, Chris Wilkinson, and progressed to the last four yesterday by weathering Tom Spinks' powerful serve and outlasting the Norfolk player, 5-7, 7- 5, 6-1.

It has been a disappointing tournament for the top seeds in the men's event. Barry Cowan, from Southport, who was projected to meet Wilkinson in tomorrow's final, was defeated by Hampshire's Nick Weal, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The 25-year-old Weal, who divides his career between playing and coaching, today meets Miles Maclagan, the No 3 seed, who ended Paul Robinson's break from coaching duties in Sweden, 6-1, 6-0.

The 24-year-old Maclagan, born in Zambia to Scottish parents and now based in Wimbledon, made his Davis Cup singles debut along with Tim Henman on what has become known as the retreat from Bratislava. Britain's defeat in Slovakia in 1995 led to a relegation play-off against Monaco at Eastbourne, by which time David Lloyd had taken over as captain, Greg Rusedski had arrived from Canada, and the threat of an ignominious drop into Group Three of the Euro/African Zone was averted.

Maclagan, ranked No 289, hopes to join Henman and Rusedski in the World Group campaign, which opens with a first round tie against the United States in Birmingham next April.

Unlike Henman and Rusedski, Maclagan, the runner-up to Jeremy Bates here in 1994, has not been on the road to Hanover, although he has seen some mean streets. In August he became the first qualifer to win The Bronx Challenger. Although the draw did not feature Robert De Niro, Al Pacino or Harvey Keitel, Maclagan was on his guard. "There were definitely no night matches," he said. "The event is in a public park, and the spectators shout whenever they want to, bring ghetto-blasters, and bounce basketballs near the fence."

Today's women's singles final features Sam Smith, the defending champion, and Julie Pullin, who won the title in 1996. Smith, the No 1 seed, was too smart for Warwickshire's Louise Latimer, winning their semi-final, 6-4, 6-1. Pullin, the No 2 seed, capitalised on her steady all-round game to counter Jo Ward's hefty forehand, defeating the 1994 champion, 6-4, 6-1.

n Steffi Graf's impressive comeback from injury continued in New York as she beat Monica Seles 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Chase Championships, racing to her victory in one hour and 47 minutes.

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